Do you need someone to clean your house? Or to walk your dog? Or to do something you can't find the time for? Wannajob solves your problem. This app, created by a group of young people from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), puts users who have a need in contact with those who have the solution and who, moreover, are nearby. A price is set so whoever does the assigned task makes a little extra money. Created last year by three young entrepreneurs -Josu Rubio, Gorka Unda and Pablo García- it won the StartUpLabUAB contest.
"I had friends who did class in the morning and work experience in the afternoon, which meant they couldn't do a part-time job, but they did have a few hours free each day to do different tasks and earn a little extra money." That is how one of the founding members of the app, JosuRubio, explains its origins. When they got the idea, all of the partners were still studying, but they managed to get the necessary resources together to go ahead with it. Then they entered the competition, and won it. That was how they managed to gain access to UAB Emprèn's coworking spaces. They say that they intend to set up in Barcelona in the future. In the meantime, they are taking part in the Yuzz entrepreneurial contest.
The three founder members have very different profiles. Gorka and Josu studied computer engineering at Deusto. Later, Gorka specialised in Big Data, while Josu went into the entrepreneurial world. Meanwhile, Pablo was part of the Basque Culinary Center, where he specialised in innovation and business. The most recent members of the team are Àlex Berenguer, the project's Community Manager, and Bernat Basté, a designer. Currently, they are looking for technical profiles to bring value to the app's development.
The app's name plays on the words wanna, the informal contraction of 'want to', and job, having a similar sound to Wallapop. "We are not Job and Talent or Job Today. We do not want waiters, hairdressers or freelancers. We want people like you and me, to deal with everyday needs, and help boost the local economy. The fact that it is similar to Wallapop helps us with the marketing," says Rubio. Nevertheless, the founders believe that people are confusing the app with one for finding work, and they are thinking about changing the name.
Users who help each other
Wannajob is a community of users ready to help each other out, and it has free users and verified users. "The verified users are self-employed or small businesses who use the app as a way of attracting clients, guaranteeing quick, high-quality services from local businesses, such as passing your car's MOT or cleaning a house," says the founder. It takes less than a minute for a user to post a task. The app is available on Android and will also be on iOS this month. It is free to download, and there were 500 downloads for the pilot.
The profiles of Wannajob users are diverse. Anyone over 16 can do tasks but only over-18s can post them. "We have detected that the people with most money are seniors, while young people are the ones with the most time," he points out. The pilot took place in Barcelona's Gràcia neighbourhood, but the app, according to its creators, is undergoing a process of expansion to other autonomous communities, such as Galicia, Madrid and the Basque Country. It is also at a stage of incorporating improvements, both in its appearance and usability.
The profits? Commission
As for the profits, Wannajob uses different monetisation methods based on B2B. "We take a commission, but only once the task is completed and the client has paid. Meanwhile, with micro-payments you can gain a series of privileges within the app," says Rubio. To get more users, the founders publicise Wannajob on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, and they are preparing a new marketing plan for this year, in which they also want to use traditional offline channels.
By the end of the year the team hopes to acquire private capital, which they need for the national expansion. Another of their objectives for this year is to create a network of verified users to provide solutions in a more professional and efficient way, so that Wannajob becomes a synonym of 'delegate'.
